Fallen Earth's latest developer interview introduces us to content writer and designer James "RandomTask" Lowe, who is truly the multi-tasker of the development team!
Alias/Forum Name: RandomTask
Title / Position at Fallen Earth: Content Writer / Designer
What games have you played and worked on?
I worked an unreleased educational game before working on Fallen Earth.
How long have you been working on Fallen Earth?
About a year and a half.
How did you get involved with your job position?
I worked on the educational game with another member of the content team who has since moved on to other projects in the company. A few months later, he emailed me to see if I was interested in a job. I was.
What type of college courses or schooling did you have to prepare you for your position at Fallen Earth?
I have a bachelor's degree in communication & culture (concentrating in film studies) with a minor in theatre from Indiana University. My second bachelor's degree is in Game Art and Design from the Art Institute Online.
I prepared a good enough art portfolio to get a job as a writer.
What in particular inspired you to work in the gaming industry?
I was in an alpha tester on a game that I thought I could have done better. I'm not naming names.
What games stand out in your memory for positive reasons?
Master of Orion 2 stands out because of its unlimited replayability. You'll never get the same galaxy configuration twice, nor are you likely to get the same exact ship loadout twice. Custom races and custom ships always made for a unique experience. I'm really hoping that Stardock starts working on part 4, because I hated part 3.
What advice would you give to budding games / software developers?
If you're a creative type, figure out exactly what you want to be doing in the industry, whether it's art, design, or whatever, and learn how to do it well. Then make examples so you can prove it.
On an average day, what do you do at Fallen Earth?
If I have a specific task I want to get done that day aside from fixing bugs, I'll usually start the day by clearing a few bugs from my list.
On most days, I fix some bugs, which means I look through the database to find numbers I may have entered wrong on creatures or missions, text problems, or other things like that.
When there's new things to go into the game, I'm writing missions, entering all the data for the missions into the database (such as the text, templates for the events, locations in the world, etc.), selecting items on merchants, and statting creatures.
Some days I do documentation, such as entering game information on our internal wiki.
On Mondays and Fridays, the days we don't have a babysitter, I head home when most people go to lunch, and work the rest of the day from home while taking care of my toddler daughter. My wife tag-team... she comes into the office after I get home to work in QA.
What is your favorite:
Game: Currently: Fallout 3 All-time: Master of Orion 2
Book: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Not exactly Shakespeare, but I read it at the perfect time to influence my future development.
Song: Tool: "Sober"
Season: Probably Nutmeg. OH.... I read that wrong. Spring - time to get out of that winter funk.
Drink: Lately, water
Color: Purple
Food: Mmmm... TUNA! It's the one thing holding me back from being a true vegetarian. I'm a vegetarian with an exception for seafood. I call that a "vague-an"
PnP: D&D
Faction: Vista - I've worked with them a lot, and I'm kind of in charge of writing their missions going forward.Do you:
roleplay? Played D&D for a few years, but not much lately.
have any pets? Four Cats, Seven Chinchillas, and a bunny named Pancake. Pancake is short for International House of Pancakes. That is long for IHOP.
like beer or wine? Neither
like coffee or tea? Both. I've had hankering for Hazelnut coffee lately. Luckily we have free coffee at work.
like cake or pie? Much has been said about the truth of cake. Pie, up until now, has been beyond suspicion. That's something we should take a look at.
Coke or Pepsi? Diet Coke
Pizza or Hamburgers? Veggie pizza or garden burgers
Chocolate or Ice Cream? What about chocolate ice cream?
Boxers or Briefs? If I ever boxed, it would be brief.Have you ever styled/had a mullet?
I let my mother cut my hair once in junior high school. I had a mullet for 2 minutes before I realized, with great horror, what she had done. It was all a ploy for me to cut the rest off. That was the last time she cut my hair.
If you could have one wish what would it be?
After getting my obligatory infinite supply of wishes, I'd probably ensure the financial future of my family.
Name one thing you would take to an abandoned island and why?
I would bring a Star Trek replicator. What? No one said it had to be real.
Does the Landshark really exist? Other kids at school tell me it's a lie.
He would exist if I could get my hands on that replicator and a LifeNet pod.
Are you willing to be bribed for an alpha spot and what would it take?
If you could provide me with extra time in the day, I would give you an alpha invite. I'm lookin' at you, Hiro.
If you have more questions, drop "RandomTask" a line or two at the official forums here!
